ABSTRACT The overall goal of this Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Individual Predoctoral Fellowship (F31) application is to develop the skills I need to become a productive nurse scientist. My long- term goal is to develop of a program of research that focuses on sex and gender disparities in chronic disease. My doctoral focus is to examine sex and gender differences in the symptoms and perceptions of impaired sleep in persons with type 2 diabetes. I have chosen the doctoral program at the University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing, a research-intensive university, for my training and have been fortunate to be supported by two eminent nurse scholars, Drs. Eileen Chasens and Jennifer Lingler. I have been directly involved in both Drs. Chasens? and Linglers? R01 studies, which has given me invaluable experience in research. In addition, I have assembled a team of experts who will act as consultants to support me during my proposed study, Drs. Vicky Helgeson [gender studies] and Susan Sereika [statistics]). The University of Pittsburgh has a wealth of institutional resources to support my training. My objectives for training are to 1) develop expertise in the design and conduct of clinical research studies employing quantitative and qualitative methods, 2) acquire content knowledge and expertise in sleep pathophysiology, sleep disorders, sex and gender differences research methods and theory, and 3) develop skills in ethical conduct of research, research dissemination and grant development. Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a common cause for impaired sleep that is accompanied by serious health implications and is under-diagnosed and therefore under-treated in women. It is unclear if women actually experience, or only perceive and report, different symptoms of OSA than men. Therefore, it is imperative that we clarify and expand upon the different symptomology and perceptions of impaired sleep reported by both men and women. This study will utilize the resources of my mentor?s study (R01DK096028, PI: E. Chasens) to recruit the sample of men and women with impaired sleep quality for the qualitative interviews and for quantitative secondary data analysis. The specific aims of the research study are to 1) qualitatively examine and compare descriptions of poor sleep quality and its daytime symptoms in men and women, 2) compare themes from qualitative interviews to the concepts that commonly used sleep instruments measure (subjective sleepiness, impaired productively, vigor and fatigue, etc.) to determine if research instruments capture any differences between men and women?s perceptions of impaired sleep and its daytime effects, and 3) conduct a secondary analysis of baseline data from the parent R01 study to explore if sex moderates the associations between the presence, severity and clinical presentation of OSA and measures of sleep quality, daytime functioning, subjective daytime sleepiness, and mood in men and women with type 2 diabetes. Through the training plan and the conduct of this study, I will gain the research skills and preliminary data required to inform future tailored interventions for impaired sleep that are specific to men and women.